I suppose the first point is that it seems most want to see homes and that’s it. Probably 80% or more are interested in nothing more. So, for them, getting them to houses like the ones they are interested in is more important than anything else. Some like map search and some like to pick their preferences. This part is easy. It’s the conversion of them into a contact thagt is a bit more mysterious. I’ve seen some agents use tacky flashing .gifs and others slather their mugshot all over every page of their website.

For me as a consumer, I need a website to be simple in layout. too much information in a small space scares me away. I want to be able to glance and find what I need and I don’t want to have to scroll down to get to it. Call me lazy, call me a product of American culture, call me whatever you want. I suspect that I am not the only one like this and since it’s a business, it’s this information that I seek first and foremost.

What is most dissapointing to me is that after watching and seeing user patterns for over a year on a high traffic real estate site, it is pretty evident that content is lower on the priority list than I would have initially thought. so thagt’s it for my rambling of the day - I just needed to think it out. Give them homes. Do it clearly and easily and give them homes. i suppose if you want to market to sellers, you might throw that in there, but, it isn’t a large portion of the users.

Well, that might be going to far as it really isn’t about who is the greatest real estate agent - it’s more about a contest to rank for the term in Google. If SEO is your thing, this one could be fun to watch. The real estate area of search results is often considered spammy and less than ‘white hat’ SEO so we will have to see what agents are willing to do to win about $5,000 worth of prizes. Hopefully noone will resort to doing anything that would potentially be a violation of Google’s guidelines as that could make the winner the big loser in the end.

At the end of the day, the person who ranks highest for ‘greatest real estate agent in the world’ will have put in a lot of work and effort to win and hopefully everyone will benefit from that in the end.

EDIT: Picture removed!

Sometimes, I think you can just hear it in her voice.

After thinking about this, I decided the picture was too off color…now back to real estate!

1. Inflating Values to Get Rich Themselves - See how these ‘professionals’ did it.

2. Cost You Money With Their “Preferred” Lender - Whatever it takes to get ‘em closed regardless of whether or not it costs you money. CNN has a great example here.

3. Overlook Problems With Their ”Preferred” Home Inspector - A preferred inspector is preferred because they don’t point out deals that can cost the agent the deal. Check out this report from Pittsburgh.

4. You Can Do Anything You Want Once You Buy This House - All of a sudden, real estate agents know all of the answers that get in the way of the sale and nothing is a problem. Most have no clue about zoning and regulations about any of these issues. “Go ahead, cut down those trees”. Instead, check your local zoning laws in the county or city the home is in.

5. Only Show You Houses That Pay Them Well - Agents know the commission they will receive and may not show you homes that don’t pay them well. Here is something on City-Data where agents say they won’t show all of the houses.

6. Your Offer Isn’t in Writing - “So, it’s not in writing, the seller said he was going to leave that flatscreen”…Don’t count on anything that isn’t in writing. Once the deal is close, an agent may not want to push to get what you thought you were getting because they may lose the deal. Your offer isn’t legally binding if it isn’t in writing.

7. You Never Get the Offer - Do you know if you really got all of the offers? An agent can tell the other agent that you won’t accept the offer so you never see it. Sometimes agents will tell each other not to even bother submitting an offer because they don’t think you would take it. Shouldn’t that be your decision?

Real estate agents can help all of us, but, the wrong one can cost you your house and a lot more. Do your homework and don’t let your agent screw you! Check out your agent in this national database of real estate agents.

Few republican voters agreed enough with him to change their political stance to reflect his views and there are three democrats who sound just like him on the war. There just is no place in the republican party and the democrats want to spend more on social programs and that just leaves the libertarians and well, they have no shot.

The point of this writing isn’t to bash Ron Paul or his supporters; it’s simply to get the debate off of the now obvious off topic conversation of Ron Paul for president. So what happens to his voters? In my opinion, they are disenfranchised republicans and will vote and democrat. The anti-war passion is strong enough to pull moderate conservatives tired of the way to vote for anyone who will get them out.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The Federal Reserve slashed two key interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point Tuesday following an unscheduled meeting, citing continued concerns about a weakening economy and turmoil in the financial markets.

The Fed lowered its federal funds rate, which impacts how much consumers pay on credit card debt, home equity lines of credit and auto loans, to 3.5 percent from 4.25 percent.

The rate cut came more than a week before the Fed’s next regularly scheduled meeting, a two day session that concludes on Jan. 30. Some market observers think the Fed will cut rates again at this meeting.

The Fed also lowered its discount rate, which is what it costs banks to borrow directly from the central bank, by three-quarters of a point, to 4 percent.

This was the biggest rate cut by the Fed since October 1984. And it was the first cut between regularly scheduled meetings since a half-point cut on the day the market reopened following the September 2001 terrorist attacks

“Broader financial market conditions have continued to deteriorate and credit has tightened further for some businesses and households. Moreover, incoming information indicates a deepening of the housing contraction as well as some softening in labor markets,” the Fed said in a statement.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, speaking at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington Tuesday morning, said that he hoped the rate cut would restore some confidence in the financial markets and U.S. economy.

“I think it’s very constructive and what I think it shows to this country and to the rest of the world [is] that our central bank is nimble and able to move quickly,” he said.

Investors didn’t appear to share this sentiment. Stocks plunged at the open Tuesday morning, following two straight days of massive selloffs abroad. But stocks bounced off their lows as the morning progressed.

“You can get into a debate as to whether we’re in a recession or not, but it’s a really turbulent period right now and that makes it difficult for investors to figure out what to do,” said Phil Dow, director of equity strategy with RBC Dain Rauscher.

Dow said the rate cuts are a welcome sign that should eventually help to stabilize the markets but he cautioned that stocks, particularly beaten down financial services companies, could still see more pain.

Along those lines, Rich Yamarone, chief economist with Argus Research, added that the Fed may be hitting the panic button, “There is no economic reason that the Fed couldn’t wait until next week to cut rates,” he said. “Something bigger is looming.”

Yamarone suggested that the Fed might be worried that the problems facing banks and mortgage lenders are going to get worse very soon.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Unusual call trading in Countrywide Financial Corp on Thursday before news that Bank of America Corp was in talks to buy it has some option players asking if word of a pending deal had leaked to the market.

About 304,000 calls compared with 248,000 puts traded in Countrywide, a combined volume five times its normal level, according to market research firm Trade Alert.

“It looks like somebody was informed because the call volume in Countrywide was so heavy earlier in the day ahead of news that Bank of America may be close to a deal for the mortgage giant,” said Jon Najarian, co-founder of Web information site optionmonster.com in Chicago.

That included about 19,000 January contracts, allowing holders to buy Countrywide stock at $5, which traded before the stock leaped above $8 after the Wall Street Journal reported the possible takeover of the top U.S. mortgage lender.

Later, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that Bank of America, the second-largest U.S. bank, was in advanced talks to take over Countrywide, whose shares ended the day more than 50 percent higher at $7.75.

The January $5 calls closed at $3.20 a contract, up from a range of 65 cents to $1 earlier in the day. The 19,000 $5 calls apparently bought before the news represented a paper profit of a potential $4 million at the end of the day, Najarian said.

It is hard to pin down whether unusual option trading stems from insider information because it can also be speculation of a merger or just plain luck. Either way, these call buyers made a well-timed bet.

“It’s possible that the news was leaked in the hours prior to the takeover buzz,” said Frederic Ruffy, analyst at California-based options education firm Optionetics.